Housing structure for use either as an incubator or brooder



Oct. '47,1952 v G. H. WADE, SR 2,612,863

HOUSING STRUCTURE F' OR USE EITHER AS AN INCUBATOR OR BROODER Filed Aug. 50, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Attorney Oct. 7, 1952 G. H. WADE, SR 2,512,863

HOUSING STRUCTURE FOR USE EITHER AS AN INCUBATOR OR BROODER Filed Aug. 30, 1950 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 Inventar Patented Oct. 7, 1952 HoUsING s'rEUc'rUEEl Fon UsE EITHER 1.x; ,1. v.1N.CIJBA'LOR -ORBRQODE This invention relates to a novel housing structure formed-of seotions-capableof kbeing arrangedV indifferent positions relatively to ones-another to.

providefeither.4 a .brooder or. incubatorhousing.

Moreffparticularly, .itfis an'aimpf the present invention to f-provide a simpleconstruction.wherein sections thereof may be Larrangedin .one-manner to .provide an-incu-Y bator. housing; and1 fthereafterfby a simple rearf rangement of'ithe) sections .relativelyto onaanother; :the zparts.:- equally ,well adaptL foruse as-a` brooder housing. I Variousother..` objects yandi-advantages of the invention will hereinafter .become more fully apparent-f'from..-thev following description of the drawingssillustrating a presently.- preferred embodimentfthereofgl-and whereinz; .v y.

Figure l isa perspective view, partly broken away, showing theF housing assembled for use as anrfincubatorgp Figure-f2` isan end elevational view thereof; Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken-on line 3-3 ofv Figure 1; Y

-Figuref4.is an enlargedfragmentary perspective .viewshowingthe housing.. assembled as.. an

incubator and 4with the upper portion. thereofv openaand partly brokenaway; e

Figurew is-a perspective View showing the housingrearrangedvto provide a brooder; A Figure 6 4is.anfer'ilarged longitudinal sectional view` of a por-.tion of. Vtheegg .compartment whenj.

theunit ist-assembled.. as an incubator taken lon lined-.4.0i Figure-.3;

Figure] 7 .oiswan enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view similar; to Figure 3, and.

Figure` Slis'fan .enlargedfragrentary perspecj tiv'view of an exteriory portion of oneA section of thel housing structureY l i j vReferring r'nore specifically to the drawings, the housing` structure yin itsV entirety is. designated generally I 4and includes a nated generally `I I, and atop section, designated gener'ally;.li2..f. '1. .3.

rlfhe V.bottom section II` includes upright parallel end walls I3, a rear wall Ill, which is secured to correspondingV endsof-the end walls I3, a bar I constituting a front wall part which is secured at its ends to the opposite ends'of the end walls I3 and Ywhich terminates Substantially below the upper edges of the end walls I3 and rear wall I4, and a removable bottom I6 which is suitably supported as bylatch kmembers I1. between the bottom portions of the walls I3 and I4 and the bar I5.' vrA shield or partition I8 issuitably secured inl the housing Vsection i I directly above the upper edgefofthe-)bar I5 andl is disposedparallel tothe bottom I6 and spaced therefrom. The bottom IG- and shield I8 combine to form a chambery I8 adapted to contain an electric heating element or unit which is held in place therein by the Astructure of extremely themselves y wall I4 has a. housing which extend inwardly I 5., l Access Ais-aiorded bottom IBand by lugs 215` frorn'the walls, I 3,.,and bar bottom I6. .,The section I necessarilyy provided with-f legs- ZZ-at the kcorners thereof,

Above thebar. |^5 the. front of the section Il' is closed by, a ,pair'f of corresponding doorsn23, Which-are hinged.at theirremote endsto the, endvwallsA I-3 by hingesV 24 for swinging movement inplanes parallelto the bottom ,IILy ljheilear ,245, mounted Yon its outer side and preferably. intermediate`v of its ends which containsan.; electric y.motor 2liY provided with an armature shaft 21 `which extends through and is; rotatably disposed an openingof I the rear wall-14:; Avjfan. 2.8.is securedto the arma?. ture shaft and disposed within the housing, secr tion II, `in the upper chamberthereof, ,located above the shield I8.: Any suitableI formof ther-v mostat 29 may .be..,mounted ,i n the-housingl and withgaiportion thereof. extending through the rearA wallhidinto theinterior. of the section Il above theshield,l..'` v

motor 26- and thermostat `29I are lzzr'eferablycon:

t nected in the same electric circuit, not shown,`

bottom section; desi'gso that themotorwill be ,operated todrivethe fan 28 when the heating element 20 is-energizedas controlled'byL thev thermostatZS `which is. re-y sponsive-to theftemperature within the Section I I The rearwall-,III and the doors 23 are provided adjacent: .their-upper edges .withopeningsV 3.0.

through *which extend metal'. strips v3I which ,are f suitably secured in the bottoms thereof and which strips3l ,are .provided lwith externally4 disposed, outturned ends 4,32 each having an outwardly opening .substa-ntiallyV-shaped -notch 33, "asl bestv seen inFigure-8. I.Each opening 30 is adapted .to

*loosely receivea chain 34 of fa conventional type formed of a, plurality of balls connected in spaced apart. relationship.l A plurality, ,Y preferably four (4) ,chains 341 are; Connected to each o-ftwo egg trays 35 which are shown as lbeing-.provided with a mesh wire fabric bottom3Ii.` Each chain 3414 is connected at one endto; Smeg-g .tray 35an`dex-- tends upwardly therefromA and thence outwardlyv through oneof theopenngs30 over vthestrip 3 I thereofA and; axpo-rtion ofthe chain betweeny yiii/Vo ofthe balls for,I spheres thereof is positioned in the, notch 33 vof said strip ;3I..to Ladjustablyanchor. the chain thereto, as1,clearly :illustrated in Figure 8, for supporting the eggtray ,35'at any desredzlevel above thefshieldj.v A tray 31; adapted to4 con-v tain moist sand, not shown, is supportedon the shield I8 beneath ther egg trays 35.. As,v the. description proceeds .it .willbecome apparent that the trays 35=ancl31 arenot considered asa part of the invention but are-merely .illustrated and briefly described for the purpose of disclosing the use of the section I I in combination with the sec- ,20;by-rem0va1 of the I. is preferably lbut not dependrisupporting.

Theheating element 2II tion I2 as an incubator housing and the section I I, when thus used is disposed as seen in Figures 1 to 4 and with the doors 23 in closed positions as illustrated in these views. As thus disposed, the section I I has an open top which is closed by the section I 2, as best illustrated in Figure 4.

The section I2 includes a rectangular frame of the same length and width as the section I I which is composed of corresponding end walls 38, a rear wall 39 and a front wall 40. The open top of the frame as defined by said walls slopes from the rear wall to the front wall, as best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The section I2 also includes a cover, designated generally 4I for closing the open top of the frame formed by the Walls 38, 39 and 40 and which cover comprises a pane or" glass 42, which is preferably glazed and Which is enclosed in a frome 43. The frame 43 is connected by hinges 44 along one side thereof to the upper edge of the rear wall 39 so that the coverl4| may be swung upwardly to an open position, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2. Thus, the cover 4I closes the top of the section I2 when in a normal closed position and the open bottom of the section I2 registers with the open top of the bottom section II when said top section I2 is superimposed thereon as seen in Figure 4 so that the sections I I and I2 combine to form an incubator chamber 45. The rear wall 39 is preferably provided with lamp bulbs 46 which project inwardly thereof and which may be connected to anysuitable source of electric current, not shown, for illuminating artificially the interior 45 of the sections II and I2 when assembled as an incubator.

To utilize the housing structure II, I2 as a broeder, the top section I2 is first removed from the section II after which the egg trays 35 and sand tray 31 are removed. The section I I is then inverted and the doors 23 are swung to open positions parallel to one another and in alignment With the end walls I3, as illustrated in Figure 5. The upper housingsection I2 is then positioned on the doors 23 with the end walls 38 resting upon the edges of the doors 23 which are'then disposed in uppermostpositions and the rear Wall 39 disposed in abutting engagement with the bar I5. Thesections'II and I2 are preferably each of a length Which istwice the width of said sections so that each of the doors 23 is of a length equal to the width of the section I2 so that the front wall 40 will be disposed in alignment with the outer edges of the doors 23. Acurtain 41 may be suspended between the outer ends of the doors 23 or from the lower edge of the front wall 40 to substantially close the opening between the outer edges of the doors 23 and below the front wall 40 to thus complete the brooder structure.

The motor 26, fan 28, heating element 20 and thermostat 29 may be utilized with the housing structure when arranged either as an incubator or broeder for heating the interior thereof and for circulating the fair therein and the bulbs 46 may likewise be utilized under either arrangement for articially lighting the interior of the housing. Likewise, with either arrangement access is afforded to the interior of the structure by swinging the cover 4I upwardly on its hinges 44 to an open position.

-Current may be supplied to the electrical parts through an electrical conductor 48, as seen in Figures 1 and 4, which extends through an opening in the bar- I5 into the chamber I9 and which is 4 adapted to be connected to a conventional outlet socket by its plug 49.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A housing structure for use either as an incubator housing or as a broeder housing,

comprising a base section having a closed bottom and an open top and including end walls, a rear wall and a front wall, said front wall having an upper edge disposed below the level of the upper edges of the end walls and rear wall, doors hinged to the end walls for swinging movement between aligned closed positions coplanar with the front wall and at right angles to said end walls and open positions parallel to one another and in alignment with the end walls, said doors extending from the open top of said base section to adjacent the upper edge of the front wall, a top section comprising a. frame having an open bottom resting on the open top of the base section, a cover hinged to the upper edge of said frame along one side thereof for vertical swinging movement between a closed position against the open top of the frame and an open position out of engagement with the open top of the frame, said top section combining with the base section when disposed in superposed relationship thereon to form an incubator housing or being supported on the doors when the base section is inverted and the doors are in open positions to provide a brooder housing.

2. A housing structure as in claim 1, said cover including a pane constituting a window for admitting light to the housing structure when the cover is in a closed position,

3. A housing structure as in claim l, said frame of the top section including a rear Wall and a front wall each having an upper edge, the upper edge of the frame sloping downwardly from the rear wall to the front wall to support the cover at an incline when in a closed position, and the height of the top section being substantially less than the height of the base section whereby the cover when in a closed position is disposed at approximately the same level as the bottom of the base section when the housing structure is arranged to provide a brooder housing.

4. A housing structure as in claim 1, Said base section and top section each being of a length equal to twice the width thereof, and said doors each being of a length corresponding to the width ofeither the top section or the base section.

GEORGE H. WADE, SR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 849,235 Harnett Apr. 2, 1905 1,038,431 Philo Sept. 10, 1912 2,062,972 Gertz, Sr. Dec. 1, 1936 2,497,381 Wade, Sr. Feb. 14, 1950 

